Merry Christmas 2009

Don't Want to Forget

So, I have several different things I need to blog about and I will get caught up during break... however, I needed to get this story down before it is not so fresh in my mind anymore.
On Friday night we had Christmas with my family at Adam and Rebecca's house. We were disappointed in a few of Ellie's comments while opening gifts (if she doesn't pick out her own clothes these days, she doesn't care for them) and decided to talk to her on the way home about how fortunate she is. We were talking to her about the difference in wanting things and needing them and telling her about how some people did not have things that they truly needed such as a warm house to go home to. She was being so mature about the whole conversation and began listing other "needs" that people have. I was having a proud parent moment as she talked about how some people do not have food, clothes, etc. She then proceeded to say, "And, Mommy, some people do not have teeth. Like in that song, All I want for Christmas is my two front teeth". That person "NEEDS" teeth. Danny and I laughed and laughed and she had absolutely no idea why.

Then, she proceeded to tell us that God gives us the things we need if we ask for them. She said God gives us clothes, food, a family, friends, and Halloween treat bags. Can't forget those treat bags! :)

Sesame Street Live and If You Give a Pig a Pancake

The past month has been full of fun! A few weeks ago Danny and I took Ellie to see Sesame Street Live. She really enjoyed the performance and chose to get a shirt for her souvenier.

On Saturday night Ellie and I had a special girls night and went to see If You Give a Pig a Pancake at the Lexington Children's Theatre with Lora and Conner. The play was great and we laughed the entire time. Great time with great friends!

Halloween 2009

Halloween was extra fun this year because the girls really enjoyed it together! Last year Livvy didn't really know what was going on. This year was much better. Here are a few pics of the girls together. We did Trick or Treat with the Lavoie family and then we all headed to Fazolis for free kids meals! It was a fun night.

Totter's Otterville

Danny is off on Thursdays right now. Because it is not election season, his department is working 4 - 10 hour days. Yesterday afternoon we made a very last minute decision to head to Covington last night. We got to our hotel in time to swim for a little while before bed. Today we got up early and headed to Totter's Otterville. It is a large indoor play area with lots of fun stuff for the kids to do. The girls enjoyed dressing up, playing in the water table and ball pit, doing crafts, looking at the animals and doing ballet! After we left Totter's we headed to LaRosa's for mommy's favorite pizza!!! I will post pictures as soon I can. After a full day the girls were exhausted and were actually both asleep by 9:00 which doesn't happen often around here!

Sick, Sick, Sick

We just can't get well. As you can tell by her not so happy face in this picture, Olivia has been a sick little girl this week. She was having a very difficult time breathing on Tuesday night so we called the PAA nurse line. After talking with a super helpful nurse who gave us some great strategies to help her breathing, we decided to wait until the next morning to go to the doctor. On Wednesday morning she was diagnosed with severe croup and an ear infection. The doctor gave her a breathing treatment (which was not fun), a round of steroids and an antibiotic. She has had a rough time recovering and is just now getting back to her normal self. Our plans to take a family trip to Kings Island and the zoo this weekend have been put on hold which is disappointing and last night the dreaded feeling that I have been fighting for a week now surfaced. I am sick! I feel awful. I went to the doctor today and got some medicine. He thinks we caught it before it got bad and hopefully with some rest, I will be back to normal in time to enjoy a little bit of fall break. Please say a prayer for us!!!

Fun with Friends!

The other day Becky, Anna, Austin, Matthew, and Maggie came over for a few minutes of play time! The kids had a ball dressing up. Here are a few photos of the gang. I don't think Jason was thrilled with some of Austin's outfit choices, so I will leave those pics out for now :), but they all sure had fun! Ellie and Austin are so precious. Sometimes they are "in love" and other times they wouldn't say so. The other night she brought me a little piece of paper that she had been working on. At the top she had written LOVE in big letters and then underneath she had written Ellie and Austin. It made me smile. It never fails to amaze me that they could spend ALL day together at school and then she'll come home and beg to see him. I hate it that they won't continue going to school together. I hope they will stay friends forever!

Olivia Talks!!!

In the past few weeks, Olivia has really started talking. She is saying all sorts of precious little words and is really starting to communicate with us. She is saying mommy, daddy, Ellie, Gran, Papaw, doggy, kitty, milk, up, all done, night night, hello, hi, bye, and her most frequent - TAGGIE!!! She is growing up so quickly. I remember being so excited when Ellie did new things at this age. It is so different with Olivia. Although it is still exciting to see her grow and change, it is also sad because I know this is the last time we will go through all of this. Olivia has the best personality. She is always happy and smiling. We are so blessed to have such precious girls!!!

Camden Park

This weekend Danny's parents took Paula, Bob, Dylan, Danny, Ellie and me to Camden Park. Camden Park is a little amusement park tucked away in Kenova. Kenova is a little city near Ashland. Danny and I both went to Camden Park often as kids and have fond memories there. It was fun taking Ellie to a place where we both had been as kids. We had such a great time. The weather was great and we hardly had to wait in any lines.

Saturday Night Southland

For the past few weeks we have been going to Southland for evening service. We have wanted to permanently switch to going on Saturday evenings so that we could spend Sunday doing things together as a family. Over the past year we have grown disconnected with Sunday School and truly enjoy being able to go to church with Adam and Rebecca. We have grown to love the people in our Happily Hitched class and know we will have to make an extra effort to get together with friends. But after much thought and prayer I really feel this is the best decision for us. So many of our Saturdays are spent doing things around the house, running errands, cleaning, and spending time with grandparents that we rarely have a full day to just be together. So, Danny and I decided that when school started back, we were going to make a real effort to get to church on Saturday nights. We absolutely love it. I feel so at peace with our decision. I am so much more relaxed and focused during service because my mind isn't wandering to all the things I have to get done before the day is over. Ellie loved being there tonight and I think a few of her friends from Tots were in her class. We will see how it goes...

Back to School - Highlights & Lowlights :)

*Well, school is definitely in full swing. I feel so blessed to work with such a wonderful group of people and such precious children. I absolutely love my school. Special students remind me each and every day how much they need me. How could I ask for a better job? My wonderful husband sent me the most beautiful boquet of flowers yesterday. I don't think I have had a "first day of school" in my teaching career that hasn't included beautiful flowers. Thank you Danny for loving me!

*We have a brand new front office at NES which has been super fun! We have windows (no windows in the old office), new mailboxes, and all kinds of other cool new stuff. Being in a VERY old building makes the little things seem huge when they are NEW!

*I have started a new mentoring program this year at school. I have worked hard to get this "up and running" and I just know God will work in the lives of students through the work their mentors will do with them.

*Ellie and Olivia are adjusting. The transition back into long work days - 5 days a week - for mommy has led to some tears. We are trying to spend quality time together every night and make the weekends extra special. I expected this from Ellie. She always has a rough time with change. She has been sad about Zoe and many of her other classmates leaving for kindergarten. I am so thankful that Austin, Matthew, and Alex have moved into her class.... just in time! For some reason I wasn't prepared for Olivia to have trouble.... she is doing better each day!

*Tonight we got McDonalds and took a blanket to the park. The weather was beautiful! We enjoyed a picnic and play time with the girls. It was much needed as is this WEEKEND!!!

Tot Shots

I am trying to get caught up all that happened this summer one post at a time. For some reason the summer and working less days caused me to be LESS organized. Go figure...
Anyway, next week Ellie will start in a new gymnastics class called "Tot Shots". It is an invitation class that meets twice a week and it is supposed to prepare the little ones for pre-team classes which are the next step. Ellie amazes us with the things she is able to do on the bars. However, the floor exercises are not really her strength at this point. It is so hard for me to watch her pull herself right up on the bar and have so much strength in her moves and yet I CAN NOT get the child to do a cartwheel. So, we will see how it goes. The coach assurred me it was the class she needed to be in. I would just feel so much better if we could go into it doing a cartwheel! :)

Marly and Me

Last night I decided we needed to spend a little quality time with Ellie. We decided to rent a movie, pop some popcorn, bring the pillows downstairs and have a movie night! We rented Marly and Me. It was the sweetest movie and Ellie actually sat and watched the entire thing. She asked LOTS of questions throughout the movie. Her little mind just goes and goes.

Toward the end of the movie I could tell we were going to have some problems. I have not written much about Ellie's constant questions about God and heaven... but they are frequent. Well, when Marly passed away at the end of the movie the tears came by the ton! She was a total wreck! Mommy should have read reviews about the movie before renting. I thought it was a comedy. For the most part it was... until the end.

Our precious Ellie is just a little too wise for her own good at times. Her deep thoughts never ceases to amaze me. Simple answers that you would typically give a four year old child do not satisfy her in the slightest. Last night was no exception. We finally managed to get things calmed down and her to bed. Lesson learned... no more sad movies for a WHILE!

Hilton Head Pictures

While at the beach with our family this summer we took the opportunity to have pictures made. Here are a few.... we had so much fun. About 10 minutes into the photo session Olivia ran into the ocean in her dress. Eventually she was soaking wet and we had to take her dress off!!!

Catching Up...

For some reason it is harder for me to add to the blog during summer than it is during the school year. I just can't seem to find free minutes to post...

Summer Time -
I am really enjoying summer with the girls! Although it is going by WAY too quickly, it has been great to spend some quality time together. We have had a great time going out to breakfast (mostly at Great Harvest with Becky and the kids because it seems to be every one's favorite) playing in the pool outback, going for long walks, and just hanging out at the house.

Vacation -
A few weeks ago we spent a week in Hilton Head with my parents and Adam and Rebecca. It was a great trip. Ellie loved having our own pool in the backyard (what a luxury) and Olivia LOVED running around on the beach. The house we stayed in was absolutely perfect and only a few minutes from the beautiful beach. We went shopping and ate at great restaurants.














Famous Words From Ellie -
As anyone who spends even a small bit of time with us knows... Ellie can have a very "sassy" mouth. The other day in the car I was telling her that she really needed to work on the tone she uses when she responds to me because it was getting really old. She looked at me completely serious and asked, "What are you going to do, call the police or something?" Not exactly the response I was hoping for!!!

The other night I was upstairs putting Olivia to bed and Danny and Ellie were downstairs doing their "work". Ellie's "work" usually consists of either cutting things up into pieces or playing school. As I walked into the living room I noticed that she had found a picture of her and Olivia from the first time I took them to the photographer. She had cut their heads out and the two heads were laying on the carpet. I have a few other copies of this picture so I didn't freak totally out, however, I wasn't the happiest. I calmly explained to Ellie that it wasn't a huge big deal and that I had other copies of the picture, but that I didn't ever want her to cut pictures without asking me again. She looked up at me with tears in her eyes and said, "Mommy, I am so sorry that I broke your heart. I really didn't mean to do anything to break your heart." I think someone might have known cutting the pictures wasn't the best idea from the start... that or she knew exactly what to do to make mommy forget all about being upset with her! :)

Ellie and Danny were doing a Bible study the other night and were studying the story of Noah. Ellie asked Danny if he knew how God made the rainbow in the sky? Danny told him that he wasn't sure how God did it. Ellie asked if Danny thought maybe God had got out his markers and crayons and colored it up there. Then, without missing a beat she asked how he made sand. Danny replied once again that he wasn't sure. Ellie went on to tell him that she thought maybe God colored lots of paper brown and cut it up into little tiny pieces and scattered them everywhere. Ellie is usually so mature in her conversation that sometimes I find myself forgetting that she is only four years old. Then, something like this reminds me of her sweet innocence.

Olivia -
Our sweet Olivia is getting so big WAY too quickly! She is talking all the time and is into everything. She is saying Mama and Dada and Ellie (in her own sweet way) and she can tell us what A and B say and on a good day she do C and D. She is learning so much at Tots. I continue to be so grateful to the daycare the girls go to. They amaze me every week with what they do for my kids. I could not ask for a more caring group of people to help me raise my children. I never, ever doubt how much the girls teachers love and care about them.
Olivia loves to dance and play! She is the happiest child. She is loving giving us kisses and shows us her belly ALL the time. She can find all of her facial features and likes to pretend she is talking on the phone. I am truly loving every minute of watching her grow!!!

Summer Fun!

Today was the first time this year that it truly felt like summer around here! I worked for a few hours this morning and when I got home we all headed out back! We played and played. The girls LOVED the water and that makes me super excited about vacation. Only five more days until we leave... Here are some pics from today!

Ellie Talk

Laying in bed the other night...
Ellie - "Mommy, you are my very best friend."
Me - "Ellie, you are my best friend too."
Ellie - "You are my best friend all of the time except when you have to spank me."
Me - "Ellie, that doesn't happen very often and when it does, it happens because Mommy and
Daddy have to teach you right from wrong."
Ellie - "Well, I know how to solve that problem. I will quit getting in trouble. You won't have to
ever spank me again, and then we can be best friends all of the time"
Me - "That would be wonderful, Ellie"
Ellie - "No more spankings, no more behavior charts. Everything is going to be great now"

The next night she was in time out by the time we had been home a little less than an hour. :)
Thought that counts, right???
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On the way to Morehead to meet my parents...
Ellie - "Daddy, do cows have ears?"
Danny - "Yes, Ellie. You know cows have ears."
Ellie - "Well, do cows talk?"
Danny - "No, Ellie. You know cows don't talk."
Ellie - "Then why do they need ears?"

The simple things...

Funnies From El

* A few nights ago Ellie asked me to color with her in the floor. I responded that I was not feeling well and needed to sit on the couch to color with her. She responded that she was not feeling well and was still coloring just fine. Later that night I told her that we needed to start getting ready for bed. She replied that she was right in the middle of something and that I was going to have to wait for her to finish before she could do anything else. We are working on her mouth!

* Last night I told her I was going to call Karen back and she said that when I call Karen it is just blah, blah, blah!!! Probably some truth to that, right Karen?

* We were walking through JC Penneys when she looked down at the shiny floor and told me that she thought she saw God in there. No idea where that came from.

* Ellie now refers to Olivia as "Livvy Lu" ALL THE TIME! We are not sure how long that will last or if we like it or not.

Sick Little Livvy

Olivia has been pretty sick all week and . She started feeling bad last weekend. On Monday I took her to the doctor and she had a sinus infection and pink eye in both eyes. They started her on an antibiotic that day and by Wednesday things had become much worse. Daycare called Wednesday for us to come get her because her temp was 103.7. I took her right to the doctor and they did blood work and said that she had come down with a virus on top of the sinus infection and there really wasn't much else they could do for her. On Wednesday night her temp. was 105.9. We freaked out. Ellie has been so healthy ane I have never seen a fever anywhere near that. We called PAA and were told to strip her down and put her in a cool bath until it went down. It did. Last night at one point it was 106.4. We called again and were told to do the same thing and bring her in to the office this morning. This morning was awful. They tested for the flu (stick a cotton swab way up their nose), did lots more blood work and checked her out again. One of her ears had become infected since Wednesday, but really there wasn't much else going on. They gave her a HUGE shot of antibiotic because the medicine she has been taking doesn't seem to be helping. Anyway, we are really hoping the shot does the trick. We have to go back in the morning at 9:10 so that the doctor can see how she is doing.

Who Is Roman?

The other night we were doing Ellie's nightly devotion. The little story was about never hiding your love for Jesus from the world. She listened intently while we read the story, went over the Bible verse (Romans 1:16), and said a prayer together. When we were finished, she looked up at Danny and said, "I just have one question for you guys." "Who is Roman?" We cracked up and then tried to give her a preschool explanation. So typical Ellie!!!

"If That Was Austin..."

The night before last I was coloring with Ellie and had Days of Our Lives on in the background. I DVR Days every day. Not real sure why... it is the stupidest show, but I have been watching since I was little and like to keep up with it. Anyway, on the show, Phillip got shot and his girlfriend Stephanie was crying hysterically about how he had to be okay.

I didn't think Ellie was paying a bit of attention the the crazy show when she looked up at me and said in the most serious tone, "That poor girl. Mommy, if Austin was hurt like that, I would cry just like her. I would cry and cry all day long." I assured her and that it was just TV and that the guy was fine AND more importantly that something like that would not happen to her Austin!!!

It cracked us up that she related the show to her own life that way. She is
so funny!

Olivia's New Room at Tots

Today was a big day for Olivia. It was her first full day in the Sunfish room at Tots Landing (her daycare). She has been transitioning this week and has done really well. For some reason this has been super hard for me. In her new room she gets to do art and circle time every day and they dance and sing and play outside. But, even though I know there is nothing I can do about it, I am just NOT ready for her to not be a little baby anymore. Being in this new room means she takes her naps on a nap mat like the big kids do and she is only taking one nap as opposed to her regular two a day. When we got there to pick her up she sure was exhausted! Her teachers said she did a great job and is really enjoying being with the older kids. She is the youngest in her class. Yeah Olivia!!! You are getting so big.
*12 month appointment was Thursday - 23 pounds in the 81% in weight. 29 inches long - 50% in height.

Ellie's First Game... Not So Great!

Ellie's first soccer game was this morning and it did not go so well. At the beginning of the game she got pushed (not intentionally, just part of the game) and she had a total melt down. We never quite recovered! She did NOT want to go back in the game. When she finally did go back in, she stood with her coach. She told us she really wanted to go home and not play soccer anymore. It was so strange to see our usually outgoing child act timid and scared. When we got in the car we explained that we had committed to playing this season and that we would keep our committment to the team. Then, if she did not want to play next season, she didn't have to. She agreed and said she would try it again next week. So, we will see... not what I predicted! :(

Ellie's First Soccer Practice

Today was Ellie's first soccer practice. She did really well. They had practice for half of the time and then had a scrimmage the other half. After everything was over, she told us that she liked the scrimmage part but did not like practicing kicking a ball. So, we will see... Mommy and Daddy's hope of having a soccer player in the making might not work out after all!!! :) We have told her that she will have to finish this season either way. We are hopeful that it will grow on her.

"You all must have dreamed that!"

So, last night we were telling Ellie it was just about bedtime... as you know... never easy around here! Anyway, for some reason, she always wants mommy to lay with her before bed. The plan is that Danny and I will take turns being the one to take her up to her room, do her Bible story, prayers, talk about the high and low of her day, etc. Somehow, it is my turn much more than Danny's. Anyway, we were telling her that it was daddy's night. We went back and forth several times. Her saying it was mommy's turn, us insisting that it was not. Danny finally reminded her that he was at the grocery store last night while mommy was putting her to bed. She replied with the following.... "You all must have dreamed that part. Daddy, you were not at the grocery store and mommy did not put me to bed. That had to have been in your dreams."
Never a dull moment around here!!!

Olivia's First Birthday Party

Today was Olivia's birthday party at Gymboree. She officially turns one on the 11th. The party was so much fun and I think Olivia enjoyed the colors and music and being with the other kids. Unfortunately, I don't think she was feeling great. She is getting several teeth all at one time and has a cold. But, she made the most of the party and absolutely LOVED her cupcake!!! Here are a few pictures. She got lots of fun presents from her friends! It was a fun day.

I can't believe it has been a whole year since she was born.

Sisters!

It makes me smile every time I see the girls interacting together. Ellie really is the best big sister ever. Even when Olivia is doing things that I know drive her crazy, I can see in her eyes that she loves her sister and she is increadibly patient with her. I worried so much before bringing Olivia home from the hospital about Ellie being jealous. I can honestly say that if she feels jealous, she does a great job of hiding it. She would do anything to help us with her sister and is really enjoying playing with her as Olivia is able to do more. She has also started helping us feed her which is so nice. Last week we got their pictures taken and this one that I am posting happened randomly. In between two different poses, Olivia started getting tired. She crawled up on Ellie's chest and grabbed hold of her dress to use as a blankey. This picture means so much to me because it really does represent their relationship right now.

Livvy's First Day With Milk...

I know this seems silly to post about for some of you... but, I had to add this to our blog! Livvy had milk for the first time today and she LOVED it. We are super excited not to have to buy formula anymore. She is such a precious little girl and is so happy. I can not imagine our life without her precious smile!!!

Our Top 5!

Danny and I are taking a class at church called Revolutionary Parenting. The assignment a few weeks ago (I am a little late posting this) was to decide together on your top 5 nonnegotiable characteristics you want your children to possess when they leave your home. We finally had a minute to finalize our list.
We want our girls to...
1. have a genuine love for Christ and a personal relationship with him.
2. cherish their family and friends and understand that marriage is forever.
3. have a moral conscience that guides their decisions.
4. respect other people and have a desire to help them.
5. be responsible for their actions, finances, relationships, learning, and health.

We have also started having daily Bible readings with Ellie. We read a story from her children's Bible and then she draws or colors something that goes with the story we read. I think this is going to become a wonderful addition to our evenings!!!
More than anything, I am thankful for this class because it has reminded Danny and me that we need to be intentional about modeling and teaching our girls how to love God and how to care for others.

"All the Gods"

Ellie (looking at her Bible) - "Daddy, I am going to read you a story and you have three options. I can either read you, God is Number One, God Loves Us, or All the Gods."

Danny - "Ellie, there is only one God."

Ellie - "No. There isn't. Because what would happen when God is sick?"

Danny - "Well, that is where Jesus comes in and helps out." (Not real sure where this came from :)

Ellie - "What happens if Jesus is sick, too?"

Danny - "Well, that doesn't usually happen. It is like Mommy and Daddy... they are usually not sick at the exact same time."

Ellie - "Oh, okay."

The things you can not prepare for..... guess we will explain this in a more mature way in a few years!!!

4 Going on 14...

Well, today was not one of our best...
Ellie got very frustrated with me because I would not let her walk through the mall parking lot without holding my hand. She wants so much to be independent, and most of the time that is just fine. But, sometimes, I just have to be the mommy! Today was one of those times. What started out as something very small quickly became out of control. We were driving in the car and Ellie was very upset with me. Out of her mouth came the following....
"I will never treat my children the way you are treating me right now." You can imagine my surprise! She is only 4 and just barely 4 at that. After a long evening of conversations about what my job is as the mommy and what her job is as the child, I think we are finally okay. How will I ever make it with her as a teenager????

Funny Little Things...

Here are a few funny things that I want to remember...
1. Ellie says "well" instead of "or" when she lists things. "I could bring my doll, well my leapster, well my games." She also says "why" instead of "because". "That's why Olivia pushed me."
She has such a HUGE vocabulary for her age and most of the time you would have know idea she is only 4. So, these little things always bring a smile to our face.

2. The other day Ellie told Danny that she knew how to spell one of his friend's names. He asked who and she replied, "J.W.". She told him that you spell it J - W. Her little mind just goes non stop!

3. Ellie to Olivia - "I am cooking dinner and I will let you know wha tyour options are in a minute".

4. Olivia is sticking her tongue out at everyone and blowing spit at them. Her newest trick. Lovely! :)

"I Want To Marry My Daddy!"

So, this morning, while getting Ellie ready for church, she and I were having a little "girl talk". She told me that she was upset because last week Mary,who is a parent of a little boy in her room, had told her that Austin was marrying Kylie. She said she had always planned to marry Austin and that it was just really sad that he was going to marry someone else.

Now, I should note that I am 100% sure that Marry did not tell her that. Austin and Kylie are not even in the same class at school. But, for some reason, this is what Ellie told me.

Anyway, the best part happened next... I was trying to explain to her that she would find someone perfect to marry someday when she was older and that this really was not something she needed to worry about right now. She looked up at me with tears rolling down her face and said, "I just really, really, want to marry Daddy, but you are already married to him". She started crying hysterically and it took me several minutes to calm her down. I told her that she could be married to her Daddy for now if she wanted to and that we would share him until she met someone her own age. She asked Danny if that would be okay and, of course, he agreed! That seemed to make her happy and the tears stopped.

I am so thankful for my husband. He is the kind of man I can only hope my girls marry one day!

Just Pray to God About It...

So, somewhere over the course of the past few weeks, Ellie has decided that any and everything she can not find requires prayer. She tells me once every few days that she has prayed about where something is and still can not find it. This has happened with her shoes, her vacuum cleaner, games, toys, etc. Yesterday in the store I was looking for the cookie aisle. Ellie very simply reminded me that all I needed to do was stop and pray about it and God would show me the cookie aisle. Something about this is just precious every time she says it. It makes me smile because even though she is a little mixed up about what requires prayer, she is beginning to understand that she can go to God when she needs help. :)

The Weekend

This weekend we headed to Ashland for some time with Gran and Papaw. We visited Mimi (my grandmother) and Danny's parents and grandmother came up for lunch. It is so nice having them all so close. Ellie gets so excited about getting to see them. Our girls are so fortunate to have two sets of wonderful grandparents in their life who love them so much.

We returned to Lexington last night. We were all totally exhausted and it was snowing outside, so we decided to skip church and hang out at home this morning. Olivia was up bright and early, so Danny let me take a nap. I went to take a "short" nap at 8:30 and he woke me at 10:30. What a husband!!!

Olivia has grown SUPER attached to her Daddy lately. She cries when he leaves the room and wants him to hold her most of the time. This is new and although it is super sweet, I am a little jealous! :) I have a feeling she is going to be a lot like her daddy. Her passive personality is very different from Ellie's or mine. I guess Danny deserves a little of that around here!!!

Ellie's Friends

Ellie has had two make believe friends for months now. Their names are Emily and Allison and they are very much a part of our family. They drive, go to school, have jobs, dress up, go on trips, sleep with Ellie, etc. Every night at dinner as we are talking about our day, Ellie asks if she can tell us a story about Emily and Allison. A few weeks ago, Ellie told my mom that they are from Africa and now live off New Circle Rd. It is always something. I think the funniest thing about this whole situation is that I know that Ellie knows they are not real. She sometimes even laughs at herself when she is coming up with the crazy stories. I honestly think she just likes to hear herself talk and this gives her something to talk about. She MUST get that from her father!!!